MANILA, Philippines – Eight motorcycle-riding men robbed late Wednesday afternoon a couple outside their home just as they were about to park their car inside their garage in Manila.
The robbers, who appeared to be in their early 20s and who were aboard three motorcycles, shot at the car driven by jewelry buy-and-sell trader Arsenio Wei to force him to open the vehicle’s doors but only managed to flee with his wife’s handbag containing close to P70,000 worth of valuables when a passerby shooed them away.
Manila Police District (MPD) Sta. Mesa station 8 commander Supt. Jimmy Tiu said that robbery happened at around 5:50 pm, Wednesday, outside the Wei home along Biyaya Street, Bacood in Sta. Mesa.
Tiu revealed that before the robbery, the Wei couple and their two children arrived at their house aboard a BMW from their store. However, when Elsa, Arsenio’s wife, opened the garage doors the eight men aboard motorcycles arrived, and accosted her at gunpoint.
Instead of handing over her handbag, Elsa threw her belongings on the ground near the rear of a neighbor’s car parked along the street, and begged for the robbers not to hurt their children. The robbers retrieved her bag and ordered her to take off her jewelry.
They then turned on Arsenio, who was still inside his car and who had locked the doors of the vehicle to keep them out.
Tiu told the Philippine Daily Inquirer that the robbers fired two shots at the car to scare the businessman into opening the doors. The gunfire called the attention of a passerby, who decided to investigate the source of the commotion and spotted the robbers.
The man, the station commander pointed out, started hollering at the robbers who panicked and fled aboard their motorcycles with the stolen handbag, which contained P17,000 cash, and Elsa’s jewelry worth P50,000.
Operatives of the MPD station 8 are conducting follow-up operations for the identification and arrest of the motorcycle-riding robbers.